Smelling Cancer?

[MikeyJ]

One of my nursing instructors told our class that she has acquired a smell for cancer, and when she walks in a room she can tell immediately if a patient has cancer.

Do nurses typically "acquire" these intuitive smells after many years of nursing??

[CRNI-ICU20]

OH...we nurses have very good smellers!

Pseudomonas anyone?? How about the smell of a staph infection?

ewwww! bleh!

My former Anatomy and Physiology prof. had us all bring urine samples to lab one day, and WE SMELLED them as part of our training to 'diagnose' some things in a patient....a UTI has a very distinct smell when ECOLI is around...

So, if your nursing instructor has a nose for cancer, that's not out of possibliity. Cadaver dogs have been trained for years to find dead people. My cousin trains these kinds of dogs, and her two top ones served at Ground Zero in NYC after 9-11. Her female laid down and put her paws over her face, because the smell of death was pervasive, and the dog could not 'hone in' on any one place....she nearly had a nervous breakdown over it and my cousin had to pull her out of the ranks for a few days until the dog could settle in....the male did better, but, unfortunately he died five years post 9-11 from the dust he inhaled into his lungs....(and the EPA still doesn't admit that 40,000 people are sick from this exposure!)....a little off subject....sorry...but, people and dogs were blessed with good smellers....and we use them well...wooohoo! What was that??? broccoli??? hehehehehe:lol2:

[wildmountainchild]

I've smelled it. But only when the cancer was very advanced. It has a musty, sweet/rotten odor to it. Quite distinct.

If you ever have a pt w/ fungating cancer; it's that smell.

[jill48, ASN, RN]

Yes, I can totally smell cancer. I thought everybody could. :uhoh21:

[TazziRN, RN]

Cadaver dogs have been trained for years to find dead people. My cousin trains these kinds of dogs, and her two top ones served at Ground Zero in NYC after 9-11. Her female laid down and put her paws over her face, because the smell of death was pervasive, and the dog could not 'hone in' on any one place....she nearly had a nervous breakdown over it and my cousin had to pull her out of the ranks for a few days until the dog could settle in

Off topic, but I remember reading that search dogs working Ground Zero were getting so depressed that the handlers would hide from each others' dogs so that the dogs could have a successful find.

[jill48, ASN, RN]

Off topic, but I remember reading that search dogs working Ground Zero were getting so depressed that the handlers would hide from each others' dogs so that the dogs could have a successful find.

I read that too! I found it amazing. Poor babies so sad.

[smk1, LPN]

so what is it that they are actually smelling? chemical by-products of abnormal metabolism from the accelerated cell growth?

[jill48, ASN, RN]

so what is it that they are actually smelling? chemical by-products of abnormal metabolism from the accelerated cell growth?

Not sure. Just remember reading that the dogs were getting depressed because all they found was dead people; had to plant live people in there just to get their hopes up. I'm assuming you were talking about the dogs. If not, sorry I'm a dork.:lol_hitti

[collegemomrn]

I to have experienced that acute ability to smell cancer. I am reluctant to share that most often, but have been right when I have shared. I think it is a very disticnt smell and not easily forgotten after smelling it once. I also worked a cancer unit for over a year and probably developed the sense of smell there.

[fultzymom]

I do know that there is a "smell" that people get right before they die. I can not describe it really well. But I always know when someone is getting close to death. It is almost like an amonia smell that they get. But as for actually smelling Cancer, I have never heard of that.

[rnin02]

My mom worked in nursing homes for years, and has told me she can "smell death" and would know when someone was going to die during her shift...not just her own patients either, she would be able to tell just walking thru a unit. Kinda creepy:uhoh21:

[firstyearstudent]

I wonder how this can be true because cancer is not really one disease, it is a catch-all term for malignant cell overgrowth. If someone told me they can smell small cell carcinoma of the lungs, I might believe them, but cancer?

[oldiebutgoodie, RN]

I wonder how this can be true because cancer is not really one disease, it is a catch-all term for malignant cell overgrowth. If someone told me they can smell small cell carcinoma of the lungs, I might believe them, but cancer?

My thinking as well. For example, on one floor I worked on, there was a nurse who could "smell c-diff". However, usually the c-diff toxin test came back negative. Yes, certain things can have certain smells, but it certainly is not a definitive test, and definitely not evidence-based.

Oldiebutgoodie